Various wireless standards, such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards 802.11a/b/c/e/g/i (referred to collectively as IEEE 802.11), provide for wireless connectivity between wireless devices, such as, for example, between a wireless station and an access point connected to an infrastructure network. These wireless standards typically provide processes for managing the power consumption of the wireless devices in an attempt to minimize the power consumed by the wireless devices, which at times may rely on battery sources for power having a limited supply of power.
One technique frequently used to minimize the power consumption of a wireless device includes increasing the transmission rate (also referred to as the physical rate) of the wireless device. It will be appreciated that increasing the transmission rate reduces the power consumption as the time needed to transmit information is reduced, thereby reducing the duration that the antenna of the wireless device is active while transmitting the signal representative of the information. However, the maximum transmission rate supportable between wireless devices may be limited for any number of reasons, such as, for example, the distance between wireless devices, the presence of noise or other interference, the individual capabilities of the wireless devices, and the like.
In addition to, or instead of, implementing the maximum supportable transmission rate between wireless devices, a reduction in the transmit power used by a wireless device may be performed to further reduce the power consumption of the wireless device. The degree to which the transmit power of a transmitting wireless station may be reduced generally is related to the link margin of a receiving wireless device, where the link margin typically represents a ratio of the actual received signal power to the minimum received signal power desired or acceptable by the receiving station. Thus, the transmitting station, in theory, could reduce its transmit power by an amount up to the link margin of the receiving wireless device without violating the minimum received signal power requirement of the receiving wireless device. However, even if taking the link margin into account, the degree to which the transmit power may be reduced is still dependent largely on the distance between the wireless devices.
Accordingly, improved techniques for economizing the transmit power of a transmitting wireless device would be advantageous.